"Robert, you take my breath away!" uttered Mrs. Tait. "I have no interest anywhere. I could not get you into any of these places."
"I dare say Mr. Halliburton could. He knows lots of people. Jane, you talk to him: he'll do anything for you."
There ensued, I say, much discussion about
Robert. But it is not with Robert Tait that our story has to do; and only a few words need be given to him here and there. It appeared to them all that it would be inexpedient for him to continue at school; both with regard to his own wishes and to his prospects. He was allowed to pay the visit with his schoolfellow, and (as he came back with neck unbroken) Mr. Halliburton succeeded in placing him in a large wholesale warehouse. Robert appeared to like it very much at first, and always came home to spend Sunday with them.
"He may rise in time to be one of the first mercantile men in London," observed Mr. Halliburton to his wife; "one of our merchant-princes, as my uncle used to say by me, if only——"
"If what? Why do you hesitate?" she asked.
"If he will only persevere, I was going to say. But, Jane, I fear perseverance is a quality that Robert does not possess."
Of course all that had to be proved. It lay in the future.